Deals with The Devil
by Lady Merlin
Summary: Draco considers his situation and studies. Hermione defends him from Ron and studies with him, much to the funny outrage of Ron. Does she know what she'd done for him? How big a difference it made? HgDm implications. one-shot


Draco sighed

Draco sighed. He had his spectacles on. They were giving him a bloody headache. It was his seventh year. It was supposed to be a happy time. One he wouldn't forget for his whole life. Well of course, he wouldn't forget it, but he wanted to.

His Father was in Azkaban, and no matter how much he hated the bastard, all said and done, he was his father. His mother was at home. She had really loved Lucius. He didn't understand it, but she did. And now that he was gone, she couldn't live. This, added on to the fact that she was a naturally peaceable woman gave way to all the other family members. His home, as he had last heard, was infested by werewolves, vampires, inferi and his aunt Bellatrix. Voldemort was making regular appearances in his dungeons, and he'd heard a group of giants was making its way there.

Now that his father was no longer in the picture, he was the head of the Malfoy Household. Voldemort had made an offer, and it had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now he knew that Voldemort was banking on his failure and when he failed, he would die, and the Malfoy line would vanish from the face of the Earth. Not to mention the unspeakable horrors He'd bestow on his mother.

Thinking of Deals with the Devil.

He was here, in the library, reading about the curses which could cause a stinking necklace to kill someone on touch. He'd been studying until twenty five minutes ago, when he'd decided that it was too late for anyone else to be out.

He heard voices in the corridor. He was probably hallucinating but that wasn't a chance he could take. He hid his books and continued studying. Damn, they were coming in here. He instinctively recognised the shock of orange hair. He knew, where the Weasel was, Potter and Granger were.

Granger was talking away, as if they were the only people around. He thought, they probably thought so too. In the previous era, he would have taken the change to eavesdrop, but now he couldn't care less.

Grangers babbling continued, a steady stream of nonsense in his subconscious, as he tried to read about ancient runes. His ears perked up when he recognised silence. He looked up, to 3 cautious pairs of eyes. Only one remained that way. One turned outraged and the other one curious. No prizes for guessing which was which.

They kept watching him. There was silence.

We were talking about leaving to get the Horocruxes and we'd made out way to the library. It was 1:30 in the morning and I didn't expect anyone to be there. We kept discussing and I was singlehandedly listing the pros and cons of leaving. Honestly, I thought that they would be more concerned about what we do when we leave. They didn't seem to care. Typical boys. Never plan ahead.

I kept talking and talking and suddenly I noticed that we weren't the only ones here. I would have recognised that blonde hair anywhere, even in my sleep, but I couldn't recognise the body and face that came with it.

He was engrossed in his work, and he looked unbelievably sweet and innocent. It was just that he didn't look so well. He was paler than usual, which was saying something, and it was emphasized by the dark blue rings around his eyes. His eyes were a silver sort of colour, framed by simple black rimed specs. His lips were pale pink as he stuck out his tongue and scribbled away furiously. His entire body had shrunk and though he was approximately the same height as before, his more-than-slender girth made him look a foot taller. He wasn't taking care of himself. His blonde hair was neither gelled, nor naturally tousled. It looked very, very plain and normal, and tired. He was unrecognizable because of the small smile of happiness as he figured something out.

Harry and Ron had seen her distraction and were now watching him too.

He seemed to feel their gazes. He looked up, and Hermione's heart cracked.

"Yes?" he asked, politely. "Can I help you?"

Hermione shook her head, dumbfounded.

Granger looked shocked. He knew that he didn't look all that good now-a-days but didn't expect that she'd notice it. He didn't expect it would enact such an obvious reaction.

"Alright then," he said, and continued scribbling.

They were still staring.

"Hasn't anyone taught you that staring isn't polite?" He asked, quietly.

"Sorry, Malfoy." Granger.

He was surprised. Didn't expect that one of The-Boy-Who-Lived-to-be-Annoying's sidekicks would apologise to him.

Apparently, neither had Potter or Weasel. Weasel went so far as to glare at her.

"Well, now that your little inter-glaring competition is over, may I go back to my studies?" he asked.

Weasel had the nerve, the gall to say, "Well, we're discussing stuff here! Do you mind leaving?"

He looked up, his eyes of silver burning. "The last time I checked, the library is public domain. I can stay here. I won't clear out for you," he spat.

"How dare you?" Weasel asked. "We're here doing important work and you're lying about," but Granger cut him off.

"Ron, you're no one to judge what is important and what isn't. He's entitled to be here."

"How can you stand up for him, 'Mione? He's a worthless piece of—"

"Ron, stop it. He hasn't provoked you. He's been polite. Leave him alone. Let's go somewhere else," Grange snapped. She was actually defending him. He was stunned.

She stalked off and Potter followed, and Weasel went shortly after, after glaring daggers at him. He had simply waited for him to leave.

He tried to find another way around the curse.

The next night, Granger came up alone. He watched her warily.

He decided he should say something. "Thanks for last night," he said quietly.

She looked like she didn't know how to respond, so she nodded. She pulled out a chair across him and sat down. He looked up through the tops of his specs. She was studying. She had sat down and pulled out her books like it was the most natural thing in the world, and was studying, for all the world like he was a desk mate.

He grew used to it, and before he could stop himself, he asked her as question from one of his textbooks. She looked up, not startled at all. She pointed out the notes he should use and the pronunciation he should watch, but she didn't tell him the answer. He appreciated that. Searching for the answer, he found it and asked her inquiringly. She nodded, and smiled. She was precious, that Granger.

She came there every night after that. Like a regular. Sometimes she would bring up muggle candy and share it with him. Sometimes he would bring up coffee and share it with her. It was an entirely pleasing relationship.

One evening, a few months later, the door slammed open. Hermione and Draco glanced up simultaneously to see who it was. It was Ron and Harry, staring at her aghast. Ron stomped away without a further word, and Harry stood there, jaw touching the floor.

"What's going on, 'Mione?" he asked, shocked.

"We're studying. What did you think?" She demanded, unable to fathom the knowing shrug on both Harry's and Draco's face. "What?" she asked, angry now.

"Well," Harry said cautiously, "I thought it was common knowledge that studying in woman speak was equal to shagging. You said that your were going of to study, so we know you and we thought, okay, Hermione's always studying, but when we saw Malfoy on the map, Ron said it was malfunctioning and I didn't say anything. He decided we should check on you to make sure he wasn't trying anything on you, and then we see this, so he jumped to the first conclusion he could think of." Harry finished.

Hermione was popping with rage.

Harry decided it would be safer to go off and find Ron. He said so, and vanished.

Draco laughed. "Relax Granger, they're concerned."

"Yeah, I know but that doesn't mean they can stalk me! If I wanted to sleep with you it's my choi—"

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Want to sleep me?"

"Wha-what?" She stuttered, unsure how to answer, blushing.

He smirked. "I'm kidding. Relax."

She rolled her eyes. "Not funny."

Silence.

"But I wouldn't mind kissing you," she inserted.

He looked at her stunned. "Well, would you believe it, I wouldn't mind it either," he grinned. She blushed furiously. She was about to leave when he held on to her wrist and pulled her back. "'Mione, listen to me. Just one minute," he said, raising a slender pale finger.

"I know you've only known me for a while, and we didn't talk much then either, but I want you to know, you've made a difference in my life and made me reconsider my priorities. I want to thank you for that, and for not lording it over me. I know you know."

"Know what," Hermione asked, innocently.

He smirked. "But now, I can't promise you anything. I can only give you my word that you are the only person who's done this to me. Once the war is over, I swear, if you still want to, I'll—"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Draco."

"I know. But I have to let you know what it means to me."

"The only way you can keep this promise is by staying alive, okay?"

He grinned. "Will do."

Awkward ending, I know but I think it was a decent idea. REVIEW!!

Love,

Lady Merlin


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